Tri-, tetra-, penta- saccharide fragments of the O-polysaccharide of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 have been prepared in which a D-galactose residue of each oligosaccharide methyl glycoside derivative contains a 13C label at C-1. The interglycosidic coupling constants [3JCH] of these 13C nuclei with the H-3 nuclei of the adjacent 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose residues have been measured by two-dimensional, J-resolved IH NMR spectroscopy. The magnitudes of these coupling constants indicate that the trisaccharide is conformationally different to the higher oligosaccharide homologs, in agreement with previous studies of 13C chemical shifts and 1JCH values.